After last week, someone mentioned on Facebook that a band that a British Invasion band that doesn’t seem to get a lot of attention was The Zombies. Rick, this is for you.
The Zombies formed in 1961, while they were still in school in St. Alban’s, Hertfordshire. Supposedly, Rod Argent (keyboards and vocals), Paul Atkinson (guitar and vocals), and Hugh Grundy (drums) were students at St. Alban’s School, while Colin Blunstone (lead vocals) and Paul Arnold (bass) were at St. Alban’s Boys’ Grammar School. Originally calling themselves The Mustangs, they decided they needed a different name because there were already a few bands with that name. Arnold left the group in 1962 to go to med school, and was replaced by Chris White.
Their first hit, “She’s Not There” (they wouldn’t let me embed it, sorry) from their first album, Begin Here, reached #2 in the US in December, 1964. They made their first US TV appearance in January 1965, where they debuted their new single, “Tell Her No,” our first song today. It peaked at #6 in the US in 1965.
The band signed with CBS Records in 1967, but things were already falling apart, and by the time their album Odessey and Oracle was released in 1968 the group had disbanded. The album might not have been released if Al Kooper, a recent addition to the CBS fold, hadn’t convinced executives of it merits. The album produced one single, “Time of the Season,” which reached #3 on the Hot 100 in 1968. It’s our second song today. The video was probably the work of the person who uploaded it to YouTube…
The band has reunited on several occasions. Since 2011, Argent and Blunstone are touring as The Zombies with Tom Toomey (guitar and vocals), and brothers Jim (bass, vocals) and Steve (drums) Rodford. Of course, the band has a website, as do Argent and Blunstone.
The Zombies, your Two for Tuesday, March 3, 2015.
The Zombies were one of my favorites from the British Invasion.
Odyssey and Oracle is one of the best albums of the era.
Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Tossing It Out
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They had an intriguing sound, almost a foreshadowing of what was coming in the near future. I listened to their first album, with all of the blues covers, then hear “She’s Not There” or “Tell Her No” on the same album, and wonder “how did they come up with that all the blues covers?” You could tell that one led to the other, but can’t put your figure on how.
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As soon as I saw “The Zombies,” I started hearing Time of the Season in my head. Not an unpleasant way to start the morning.
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They had a number of good songs. Check the albums (I think I linked at least to their second); the stuff they didn’t get on the radio was great, too. They were a great band.
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I’m not crazy about them, but I kind of like “Tell Her No”.
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They didn’t have the exposure that other bands had, but their albums were good.
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John, I’ve noticed that when I used to buy albums, many of the other song were much better than the hits. There’s a satellite radio station called “Deep Cuts”, and I like to listen to that to hear songs that didn’t get a lot of recognition but were really good.
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A few stations in Chicago used to have a nightly feature where they would play an entire album side. If you had a tape deck and were quick enough, you could get a free album (or one side of one), but otherwise you’d get an idea of what the rest of the album was like and decide whether or not to buy it. I found a couple of good albums that way.
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I really like Time of the Season. Their band name might have been a bigger hit today with the Zombie popularity thing going on.
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You’re probably right there… They did a lot of great music. Shame they never got the recognition, although part of that might have been the short life of the band.
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I remember the Zombies I also remember Argent who I thought were much better.
PS I have four blogs I juggle around with though only use on a regular basis, could not get on with wordpress
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This blog does simulcast on Blogger, at http://thesoundofonehandtypingfm.blogspot.com, if that’s easier for you. Thanks for stopping by!
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Good stuff!
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